Thakthok Monastery
Thakthok Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located near Shakti village, 46km east of Leh. The name ‘Thakthok’ means ‘rock roof’ and both the monastery’s roof and walls are built from rock.
Thakthok is the only Nyingma monastery in Ladakh and is home to around 55 lamas. It was founded around the mid-16th century during the reign of Tshewang Namgyal, on a mountainside around a cave in which Padmasambhava is said to have meditated in the eighth century.
Every year, on the ninth and tenth day of the sixth month of the Tibetan calendar,celebrations including sacred dances are held at the monastery.
‘To Earth’,
a poem written by our Enlish-language editor Matthew Singh-Toor
(Meditation whilst sitting on a wall opposite the Rinpoche’s residence
At Thakthok Monastery)
Three boxes,
Rectangular,
Side by side,
The middle box shorter,
No divide.
(The Rinpoche within
Nods).
*
Three boxes,
Uniform
Against rock.
Rock chaotic,
Strata diagonal.
Hewn and polished
Spliced and eroded,
Fissured and curved,
Corners rounded.
(The Rinpoche within
Muses on
A line of scripture).
*
Four windows
Cross-barred black,
Grimy,
Reflecting grey
In heavy wooden frames.
Maroon frames,
Black borders,
Thick paint
On the whitewashed façade
Of dripped plaster.
Discoloured.
(The Rinpoche within
Presses his fingertips together).
*
Five prayer flags,
Yellow, green, red, white, blue,
Against rock, lichen-rusted
And the vast blue sky,
Deep and flat and even,
Ready to engulf.
(The Rinpoche within
Listens).
*
Five creatures,
Moo, chirp, buzz, bark, coo.
Flutter of wings, flags, polythene against broken window.
Shush and hush of breeze.
Roar and honk, approaching, receding.
(The Rinpoche within
Murmurs).
My eyelids droop closed.
*
Fingertips graze rough plaster,
Skimming chalky over sun-warmed distemper.
Palms grow gargantuan to cup rounded corners.
Eyelashes flutter over prayer flags,
Flutter-tickled in return.
(The Rinpoche within
Looks down from the window)
*
To earth, sand and scrub,
Rock chipped, shattered,
Shards scattered.
I revive in the dust,
Prostrate.
(The Rinpoche within
Sees everything).
